Nights into Dreams
by MiloGirl
Summary: What happened if dreams came true, even your worst nightmares, The NEW Chapter of Nights into Dreams is FINALLY up.
1. If Dreams Came True...

  
02/10/01  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gainax, or any of the characters in this story. I have to write this so I  
won't be sued by Gainax or any of it's affiliates, so don't sue me. Thanks :-)   
  
  
MiloGirl Productions  
  
Nights into Dreams  
  
Part I: If Dreams Came True...   
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Asuka woke up with start, body covered with damp, cold sweat, her thin nightgown  
clinging to her clammy skin. "What was all that about?" she asked herself, already knowing the  
answer. She just had the most...peculiar... dream. She was in the entry plug of her beloved  
Evangelion Unit 02, when, all of a sudden, she felt a warm, comforting presence inside the entry  
plug with her. Tears had welled up in her eyes and dissolved in the saffron LCL when she  
recognized the faint, secure felling that enveloped her in this spirit's presence.  
"Mother..." she choked, barely over a whisper. The spirit drew closer, and closer, and  
after what seemed an eternity, spoke.   
"Asuka, liebling..." the voice cooed, lovingly.  
"Mama!" Asuka cried, the tears on the brink of escaping her eyes. The spirit formed the  
figure of one Gehirn scientist named Kyoko Zepplin Soryu, and reached to the cockpit where  
Asuka was sitting with outstretched arms. Asuka, with great unconditional love and joy, jumped  
into her arms.  
"Mama, we are together again, we'll be together forever!" Asuka cried out with true  
happiness.  
"Oh Asuka liebling, liebe ich sie..." Kyoko said warmly.  
"I love you too mama." said Asuka, smiling genuinely.   
"Then..." Kyoko continued " Will you die...with me, Asuka darling? DIE WITH ME!"   
"Yes..." Asuka said weakly "I'll die with you, anything to be together again."   
"Komm, Asuka liebling..." Kyoko said reassuringly, slowing floating away from Asuka,  
the entry plug suddenly disappearing and turning to a steep cliff on the outskirts of Tokyo-3 Asuka  
had once visited previously. "Take my hand, Asuka darling, come die with me..." Kyoko said in a  
disturbingly happy tone. Asuka gently cupped her late mother's hand and slowly moved toward the  
edge of the cliff. Asuka and her mother jumped to there doom, and right before she hit the jagged  
rocks below, she woke to the sound of her annoyingly loud alarm clock, buzzing '6:00am'. Gently  
slapping the sides of her face to wake up, Asuka groggily staggered to the washroom for a nice,  
relaxing bath before school.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Shinji yawned as he woke from a...uneventful dream. The usual dream, he is at a beach,  
being fed grapes by Asuka, and being fanned with big leaves by Misato, and Rei. Okay, he might  
be a pessimistic protagonist, but is also is a 14-year-old boy. Anyway, he started out of   
"Shinji's Lovely Suite", sleepily opening the door. Wiping his crust filled eyes, he stumbled to the  
bathroom door, and slowly turned the nob...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Asuka drained the water from the bathtub, breathing a heavy sigh of total relaxation.   
"Mmmm.... maybe I'll be nice to Baka-Shinji for a change today..." she paused " Maybe  
not." Asuka quietly giggled. 'Verdamnt, I forgot the towel... Ah well, better make a break for it."  
Asuka quickly picked up her undergarments and quickly sped out of the bathroom, to ensure no  
one, especially Baka-Shinji doesn't catch a heavenly glimpse the magnificent goddess known as  
herself. She smirked 'At least, for him, he'd see heaven, before he sees hell..." she smirked again.  
As she flung open the bathroom door, low and behold, to much of her displeasure, was a flustered  
Shinji Ikari, heading right into her. "Wha..?" Asuka barely got out before Shinji clumsily toppled  
into Asuka, and they ended up in an awkward position on the cold tile of the bathroom floor,  
Asuka's red bra landed on the top of Shinji's head. After a pause of complete shock for Asuka, and  
embarrassing awkwardness on Shinji's part, Asuka's head turned as beet red as the bra situated on  
Shinji's head. Taking in a raspy breath, Asuka began her onslaught.  
"YOU STUPID PERVERTED DUMMKOPF!! HOW DARE YOU WALK IN ON ME  
WITHOUT EVEN KNOCKING?!? YOU FREAK, GET OFF OF ME!! DISGUSTING HENTAI,  
I'LL MURDER YOU!!!" Shinji's face turned from a crimson to a ghostly white.  
"Ah...SORRY!! I'm so SORRY Asuka-san, just give me a head start before you rip me to  
shreds!" With that, Shinji jetted out of the bathroom, with Asuka in hot pursuit.   
  
******************************************************************************  
  
At the breakfast table, Misato, Shinji and Asuka ate in total silence, with Asuka  
occasionally giving Shinji some cut-eye. Shinji quietly got up and washed his dish in the sink,  
shortly after, Asuka followed suit.  
"I'm finished. Goodbye Misato, I'm going to school now." Asuka said in a monotone that  
made Rei sound emotional.  
"Have a good day Asuka, Shinji." Misato said cheerfully.   
"Bye, Misato-san" Shinji murmured, loud enough for Misato to hear.  
With that, Asuka abruptly opened the door, and as Shinji was following, she slammed it in  
his face, particularly his nose.   
"OW!" he cried as his nose started to bleed. Misato was stunned, Asuka might be moody,  
but this was a bit much.   
"Are you okay Shinji?" asked Misato, quite concerned, in more ways than one...   
"I'm fine, I'll just get some Kleenex and go..." he said quietly.  
"Wait." Misato stopped Shinji in his tracks "What is going on with you and Asuka, she  
acting a bit more moody than usual."  
"Um..." Shinji blushed "I... kinda ... saw her....." his nose bleed acted up again, but for a  
different reason. "Saw her what? Oh..." Misato realized, answering her own question.   
"So..." Misato said with an goofy smirk on her face, one he would more than likely see on  
Touji or Kensuke "You get a good look.?" Shinji's blush deepened.   
"I think I got to much of a good look, seeing as though I was on the floor on top of her..."  
'Why am I getting a feeling of Deja Vu?' he inquired to himself.  
"At least you lived to talk about it, I think she is being quite lenient, in Asuka's standards  
anyway." she shook her head wearily. "Anyway, you should head to school, you'll be late if you  
don't hurry!"  
"Oh yeah... bye, Misato-san!" Shinji said, louder than his previous attempt to leave for  
school.   
"Have a nice day, and give Asuka some space, wouldn't want you to be breaking anything  
now." Misato called out as he opened the door.  
"Okay. Bye!" Shinji called back as he shut the door.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
"Damn! I'm gonna be late!" Asuka grumbled as she neared the school, the warning bell had  
just rung, so she only has 5 minutes to get to class. "Baka-Shinji, making me late. If I didn't have  
to chase him for 30 minutes around the apartment I wouldn't be in this mess!" Asuka huffed and  
ran faster, to passers-by she looked like a red streak speeding along the sidewalk. Luckily, she  
made it to class just in time for the bell to ring. "Where is that pathetic idiot, it's not like him to be  
late..." Asuka inquired. Remembering this morning's events, anger welled up within her. "Hmph!  
Good riddance, the wimpy BAKA!" she growled as she took her seat.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Shinji casually walked to school.   
"I'm already late as it is...so might as well enjoy the walk." he smiled serenely. The rest of  
the walk was quiet, as he pondered and engaged in deep thought, but all of which would lead back  
to the occurrence in the morning.   
"Oh man, what am I going to do? Ok, ok, I'll buy her some flowers, NO!! She'll shove  
them down my shirt, most likely... Then a box of chocolates! No, no, she'd probably think I want  
to go on a date with her, she'd pummel me into the ground!...then maybe.." This train of thought  
went on until he finally arrived at school, when he had the perfect idea.  
"I know! Tomorrow, I'll make a special lunch for Asuka, filled with her favorite foods and  
desserts!" Shinji grinned. "And maybe she'll be a bit nicer to me for awhile, a longshot, but it's  
worth the effort." And with that resolved, he sped up his place and walked into Classroom 2-A.  
  
******************************************************************************   
  
"Um...Asuka?" asked Hikari, the class rep, quietly "Where is Shinji-kun?"   
"Ha!" Asuka laughed "Like I, the Great Asuka Langley Soryu, care where the Baka-Shinji-  
kun is, he could be in a burning building for all I care!"   
"Umm..." Hikari hesitated "I didn't ask if you cared, I just asked if you know where he is."  
Asuka blushed slightly   
"Oh..." she started, then, finding her pride again "I don't know where that loser is."   
"Ok, thanks anyway." Hikari smiled softly, bowed slightly and left Asuka's presence.  
'Where is the baka, he isn't the type to be this late...' before Asuka could finish her thought, in  
walked Shinji, with Kleenex blocking his two nostrils red with dry blood.   
"You get in a fight Ikari?" Touji chuckled, the class quickly followed suit with small  
giggling and chuckling.   
"That would explain why you're late." the Sensei noted sternly.   
"Oh... I..." Shinji blushed "Just got hit in the face with the door, that's all."   
"Oh dear," gasped Hikari "How ever did that happen?"   
"Asuka was in a rush, and I clumsily bumped into the door, is all." Shinji explained.  
Everyone sighed an uninterested 'oh' and resumed their work. Shinji walked to his seat, and  
looked behind himself, at Asuka. She was staring right at him, with her azure eyes, and for an  
instant, he saw something..... different. Asuka knew Shinji could have embarrassed her in front of  
the entire class by giving the blame where it was rightfully due, but instead he blamed himself for  
her rudeness. Her shield came up again and she shot Shinji a dirty look, and continued her work.  
Shinji shook his head and took his seat, this was going to be a long day.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
  
ANGEL ATTACK!  
  
Shinji, Asuka and Rei's school day was greatly shortened by the blaring sirens of the  
familiar warning. Their cell phones rang.   
"Hey kids? I'll be there in 5 minutes to pick you guys up, ok?" said Misato over the phone.  
"Hai!" they said in chorus, and hung up their phones.   
"Ikuyaho! (Here we go!)" yelled Asuka as they evacuated the school. Misato pulled up, the  
children loaded in, and they were off, heading towards the Geo-Front.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
"Evangelion Units 00, 01, 02, HASHIN (LAUNCH)!!" yelled Misato. The elevators  
launched the valiant fighters into battle, Unit 01 as offensive, Unit 02 as defensive, and Unit 00 as  
backup, all positions assigned based on their sync ratios.   
"Where is the Angel?" Asuka asked Misato over the comm.   
"Just over the horizon, be careful, this one is different that any that we have seen before, so  
take a lot of precaution, we need a reading on the angel before we attack, okay?"   
"Hai!" they all responded.   
"Good. Keep us informed of any trouble." And with that, Misato turned off the comm. link.  
Eva units 02 and 01 walked over the horizon, as unit 00 stayed stationary.   
"Be careful Ikari-kun, Pilot Soryu-san." Rei said quietly.   
"Thanks, Ayanami." Shinji replied, Asuka said nothing.   
"I see it!" Asuka exclaimed. The spiral shaped, black and blue entity hovered closer to  
Asuka's and Shinji's Evangelions.   
"Wave pattern Orange, confirmation by the Magi, it's an Angel." said Makoto Hyuga.   
"Alright kids, stay put, we are going to study it a bit more..." said Misato, but Asuka had  
already grown inpatient.   
"Like Hell! Out of my Shinji, Let me show you how it's really done!" Asuka said with a  
newfound conviction. 'This time, I won't need Baka-Shinji or Wonder Girl's help.' she thought.  
With a battle cry, Asuka charged toward the spiraled Angel.   
"NO!! ASUKA DON'T!" shouted Misato, but it was too late...   
  
  
Author's Notes: OK! That was my first fanfic ever, so don't be too critical about it. This is going  
to be a 3 part story, so expect another fic in one week, Ja!  
  
P.S. Give me feedback, I need all the help I can get, especially with editing and if any of the  
characters are OOC, Thanks!   
  
E-mail me @: nicole_johnso007@hotmail.com   
  
P.P.S. If this is going sideways for some reason, cut and paste this into WordPad or better  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Dreams into Reality

  
02/20/01  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gainax, or any of the characters in this story. I have to write this so I  
won't be sued by Gainax or any of it's affiliates, so don't sue me. Thanks :-)   
  
  
MiloGirl Productions  
  
Nights into Dreams   
  
On the last "Nights into Dreams"...  
"Alright kids, stay put, we are going to study it a bit more..." said Misato, but Asuka had already  
grown impatient.   
"Like Hell! Out of my Shinji, let me show you how it's really done!" Asuka said with a  
newfound conviction. 'This time, I won't need Baka-Shinji or Wonder Girl's help.' she thought.  
With a battle cry, Asuka charged toward the spiraled Angel.   
"NO!! ASUKA DON'T!" shouted Misato, but it was too late...   
  
Part II: Dreams into Reality  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Asuka slowly regained consciousness. Rubbing the back of her head, she groggily looked  
around to see where she was. She was in the entry plug of Evangelion Unit 02.  
"Where am I?" she asked herself aloud, "Am I...dreaming?"  
"Asuka, liebling...." a small voice cried.  
"I must be dreaming..." Asuka whispered, quivering.  
"Asuka-chan..." cooed the voice, sounding as if it were getting closer and closer.  
"No way," Asuka cried, astonished, "This is just like...that dream!"  
"ASUKA!" a voice shouted, barely audible, but it wasn't her mother's.  
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka choked, with confusion in her voice.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
6 hours earlier  
  
"NO!! ASUKA DON'T!" shouted Misato, but it was too late...   
Her Evangelion speeded towards the spiraled angel in a mad frenzy.  
"Your dead meat!" she screamed as she raised her progressive axe above her Eva's head.  
Un-phased by Asuka's visual threat, the Angel uncoiled itself into a spaghetti-like shape  
and flew straight for Asuka.  
"Asuka, LOOK OUT!!" Shinji tried to warn, but the Angel was too fast for Asuka.  
It incapacitated her like a python would do a prey, and started to bore into the Eva like a  
leech.  
Asuka's bloodcurdling screams and Shinji's pitiful cries went silent as the Angel had  
completely bore into the Eva. All that was left was a silent Eva 02 unit, and a sobbing  
Shinji.   
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
"Eject the plug!" Misato ordered hastily.  
After pressing the emergency button, Maya Ibuki shook her head.  
"No response, the emergency eject is not working."  
"Asuka!" shouted Misato to herself, "Get a visual of the plug, now!"  
On the screen, It showed the cockpit, and Link Connection Liquid, but no pilot.   
"What happened?!?" Misato asked Ritsuko, "Has she been taken into the Eva?!?"  
Wishing that was it, Ritsuko answered.  
"No, Major. It's something much, much worse." she said grimly, "She has been taken  
into the Angel."  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
4 hours later  
  
"We have quickly devised a plan to retrieve the pilot of Unit 02." Ritsuko started.   
"Asuka..." Shinji said, barely over a whisper, his hair matted to his skin.  
Ritsuko continued. "Using Pilot Ikari, we will use his mind to invade mind, and convince  
her that whatever the Angel is manipulating her with isn't reality, so that we can destroy the  
Angel without endangering Pilot Langley."   
"Without the permission of the Commander..." Misato mumbled to herself.   
"Is that clear?" Ritsuko boldly asked the staff.  
"Hai!" they said in unison.  
She smirked. "The operation begins in one hour, let's move out!"  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
1 hour later  
  
Shinji was laying on a flat table, completely naked, with metal objects and wires  
protruding from his body.  
"Okay, Shinji-kun," said Ritsuko, "Now close your eyes, and just relax. We can't put you  
under with your pulse rate as high as it is now."  
"You expect me to RELAX?!?" he shouted back with slight panic and anger. This was  
not like Shinji's usual timid nature at all.  
"You want to save Asuka, don't you?" Misato asked, with a wry grin on her face.  
Shinji blushed.  
"Thought so." Misato smirked.  
"Ok, ok." Shinji sighed, "I'll do it, I'll relax."  
With that, Shinji calmly closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
"Wha...?" Shinji inquired, slightly disoriented.   
He was in what appeared to be a dark chasm, until his vision focussed and he spotted an  
unconscious pilot, sitting in the cockpit of the entry plug.   
"Asuka? ASUKA!" he shouted.  
She started to stir.  
"Asuka!!" he started to yell, but to no avail. She didn't hear him.  
Then, another voice emerged from the darkness of the darkness of the plug, a feminine  
voice in fact.  
"Asuka, liebling..." the voice cried.  
"Was that in German?" Shinji asked no one.  
"I must be dreaming..." Asuka whispered, quivering.  
"Asuka-chan..." cooed the voice, sounding as if it were getting closer and closer.  
'Asuka-chan...' thought Shinji.  
"No way," Asuka cried, astonished, "This is just like...that dream!"  
Shinji couldn't take it anymore, he screamed at the top of his lungs.  
"ASUKA!" his voice shouted, barely audible to Asuka.  
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka choked, with confusion in her voice.  
Nah, couldn't be.  
"ASUKA, DARLING. I'M HERE!" yelled the other voice, and it formed the shape of a  
woman, which looked like an older Asuka, with short auburn hair.  
"Mother!" cried Asuka, "Is this a dream, or are you really here?"  
"I'm here, my darling Asuka." smiled the figure of Kyoko Zepplin Soryu, "We'll be  
together forever."  
'This is, Asuka's mother?' Shinji inquired to himself, not believing what he was seeing.   
He floated closer to the two and studied Asuka's "Mother" closely. The figure, seemingly  
unnoticed by Asuka, had a very slight, but vivid evil grin on her face.  
"That isn't her mother." Shinji whispered, "It's the angel!"  
"My darling, come with me." Kyoko smiled, "Do you want to be with me forever?"  
"Yes, mama..." Asuka replied, forgetting all her logic.   
She was lost in the figure's motherly eyes.  
"Then, take my hand..." she said, softy.  
Asuka reached out for her "mother's" outstretched hand. The moment she touched it, the  
entire surroundings turned into an illusion of that same Tokyo-3 cliff in her dream.  
Under some sort of spell, Asuka gleefully walked beside her supposed mother. They  
neared the edge, when the older woman stopped, and looked at Asuka with disturbing bright eyes.   
"It's time." she said bluntly.  
"What?" Shinji asked, hoping someone would answer.  
"Mama?" Asuka said, puzzled.  
"It's time..." the woman started, " To die with me, my Asuka."  
"What?!?" shouted Shinji, "This angel is nuts!"  
"Yes..." Asuka answered, her trance deepening, "I want to be with you forever."  
"Good girl," the Kyoko smiled, "Come with me..."  
The figure started floating away, until she was hovering right over the cliff.  
"Jump Asuka," she said, "So we can be together."  
"Alright, mama..." Asuka replied, "I'm coming!"  
Asuka walked to the edge, took a daring look down of the bottomless cliff, and was about  
to jump, when...  
"ASUKA, DON'T!!" the familiar voice cried.  
Asuka snapped out of her trance.   
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka said quizzically as she looked back and saw the lean and wiry  
frame of her roommate, colleague and bitter rival, Shinji Ikari.  
Guess she heard right the first time.   
"Why are you interfering?" asked Kyoko angrily.   
"I'm not gonna let you take Asuka away, we need her!" Shinji retorted as he neared their  
position.  
"What? You need ME? The one that can't even kill an Angel without another's help?  
HA!!! No one needs me." Asuka huffed.   
"......" Shinji paused. 'What now? Do I tell her why I'm really here?'   
"I came... I came because..." he gulped, "Ah..."  
"SEE? Shinji no BAKA!!" Asuka shrilled.  
'I know!' Shinji thought.  
"We need you...because...YOU'RE THE BRAVEST AND BEST EVANGELION PILOT  
IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!" he cheered.  
Even though Asuka knew what he was doing, she blushed. Her ego needed that.  
She grinned haughtily.  
"Ya think so, huh?" she smirked.  
"I bow humbly and resign my title as 'the Invincible Shinji' and dub thee 'The  
Untouchable Asuka.'" Shinji bowed heavily.  
In one of the biggest ego trips in her entire life, Asuka couldn't stop smiling as Shinji  
bowed to her feet like a lowly peasant.  
"You may rise." she said with belying pride in her voice, completely forgetting about her  
so-called mother, still floating over the cliff, now with an annoyed look on her face.  
"Thank you, Asuka-sama, I don't even deserve to be in your presence." Shinji humbly  
said as he got up.  
"You got that right." she beamed brightly again.  
"ENOUGH!!!" Kyoko screamed.  
"WHAT?!?" Asuka screamed back before realising whom she was talking to.  
After that, the illusion dissipated, and the true form of the Angel appeared.  
Words couldn't describe how hideous it looked.  
"AHHHH!!" both Asuka and Shinji screamed at the same high pitch.  
"It's time, for you ALL TO DIE!!" the angel shrieked as he flew higher and higher into  
the mock sky.  
"YOU BASTARD!! NO ONE FOOLS ASUKA LANGLEY SORYU AND LIVES TO  
TELL ABOUT IT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.   
'Now that's the Asuka I know.' Shinji grinned.  
"You can't hurt me, fool." shrilled the Angel, "This is all an illusion, a dream."  
"But If I can't kill you here, you can't kill us either!" Asuka shouted back.   
"......." paused the Angel.  
"And If this is a dream...." opted Asuka.  
"We can do whatever we want." finished Shinji.  
"You, you..." growled the Angel.  
"Bitch? I already know that." Asuka laughed. "You're done."  
With that, Asuka flew up to the Angel, and started an all out fist fight with the beast.  
"Oooooook there..." Shinji sighed, "Now this is ridiculous."   
Asuka was fighting the angel, and the storyline was getting quite confusing when...  
FLASH!  
The Angel sneered, and started his last, and final words.   
"This is the end of your lives, I suggest you use your last minutes wisely. It was fun."  
The Angel disappeared, the illusion faded and a floating Shinji and a bewildered Asuka  
was left in her dormant Entry Plug of Evangelion Unit 02.   
"Why are you floating, Baka-Shinji-kun?" Asuka quietly asked.  
"I am a projection of my conscious self in your mind, right now my body is 1 km away on  
a steel table in the geo-front." answered Shinji.  
Before Asuka could react, red letters blipped on the screen in front of the cockpit.  
"Mein Gott!" Asuka gulped, "Self Destruct sequence is on... but how?"  
All went quiet. '2 minutes' flashed on the screen, precious seconds ticked by. Shinji's  
face showed clear panic, not for himself, but for Asuka.  
"Asuka! Try the manual eject sequence!" yelled Shinji.  
Asuka frantically searched for the switch, tried it over and over again, but to no avail.  
"Verdamnt!" she shrieked, "It's not working!"  
20 seconds left.  
"Asuka!"Shinji started sobbing, "Don't die, try...something! Please! ASUKA!"  
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" she panicked, then stopped all of a sudden. "Why are you crying?  
What does any of this matter to you? You are safe, why do you...why do you even other with  
me?"  
Only 5 seconds left.  
Shinji couldn't hold it in anymore, he had to say something. Even if she was going to die,  
he had to tell her before she did.  
"Asuka, It's because I...I..." but the explosion drowned out his last words.  
  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: Well wasn't that fun? Not really. HAHAHAHAHA!!! The last part is, by far, the  
best, so watch out for it, mm'kay? I'm too young for this, yawn, AHAHAHAHAHA!!!  
You can tell it's late. ^o^ Ja Ne!  
  
P.S: I wrote a tidbit on Asuka's ego as well as other things so (REALLLLLLLLY LATE)...  
  
HERE IT IS!!!!!! (Don't make fun :-p)  
  
  
Author's Note on the Pride of Asuka Langley Soryu:  
Asuka's pride is like the Berlin( I would have used wall of Jericho, but she German and  
I'm way too tired to get into this) like wall, it keeps her true self separated from the real world.  
Leave it to Shinji Ikari to keep her on her toes. His sincerity and unconditional kindness, foreign  
emotions known by Asuka, to break down the barriers she had built since she could remember.  
Some of the few moments when she almost opened up to him showed how much of an impact he  
had made in her life. Too bad that Asuka has to be the best emotional carpenter in Tokyo-3. Her  
pride always shut her up before her true self was able to indulge her true nature to Shinji, and her  
facade was fronted again and again. In her mind she thinks all she needs is pride, self image, and  
the praise of others. When what she truly feels in her heart is loneliness, and all she needs is  
somebody to care. She thinks that, along with Rei and Shinji as well, that being a Eva pilot makes  
her a somebody. Makes her respected and loved by all, and that is all that she needs to live.   
But what is she without her beloved Evangelion Unit 02, without her NERV ID card, without her  
special red interface clips situated on her head she proudly shows off to others, without her status,  
or degree, that she is as worthless as a rag on the street. Her insecurity is her greatest weakness,  
and all she needs is someone to love her unconditionally, and that someone should be herself.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Dreams into Reality (revised)

02/20/01  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gainax, or any of the characters in this story. I have to write this so I won't be sued by Gainax or any of it's affiliates, so don't sue me. Thanks :-)  
  
  
  
MiloGirl Productions  
  
Nights into Dreams (Revised version)  
  
  
  
On the last "Nights into Dreams"...  
  
"Alright kids, stay put, we are going to study it a bit more..." said Misato, but Asuka had already grown impatient.  
  
"Like Hell! Out of my Shinji, let me show you how it's really done!" Asuka said with a newfound conviction. 'This time, I won't need Baka-Shinji or Wonder Girl's help.' she thought. With a battle cry, Asuka charged toward the spiraled Angel.  
  
"NO!! ASUKA DON'T!" shouted Misato, but it was too late...  
  
Part II: Dreams into Reality  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Asuka slowly regained consciousness. Rubbing the back of her head, she groggily looked around to see where she was. She was in the entry plug of Evangelion Unit 02.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked herself aloud, "Am I...dreaming?"  
  
"Asuka, liebling...." a small voice cried.  
  
"I must be dreaming..." Asuka whispered, quivering.  
  
"Asuka-chan..." cooed the voice, sounding as if it were getting closer and closer.  
  
"No way," Asuka cried, astonished, "This is just like...that dream!"  
  
"ASUKA!" a voice shouted, barely audible, but it wasn't her mother's.  
  
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka choked, with confusion in her voice.  
  
(Author's Note: I know it's been done a million times, but I'm real tired :P)  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
  
  
6 hours earlier  
  
  
  
"NO!! ASUKA DON'T!" shouted Misato, but it was too late... Her Evangelion speeded towards the spiraled angel in a mad frenzy.  
  
"Your dead meat!" she screamed as she raised her progressive axe above her Eva's head.  
  
Un-phased by Asuka's visual threat, the Angel uncoiled itself into a spaghetti-like shape and flew straight for Asuka.  
  
"Asuka, LOOK OUT!!" Shinji tried to warn, but the Angel was too fast for Asuka.  
  
It incapacitated her like a python would do a prey, and started to bore into the Eva like a leech.  
  
Asuka's bloodcurdling screams and Shinji's pitiful cries went silent as the Angel had completely bore into the Eva. All that was left was a silent Eva 02 unit, and a sobbing Shinji.  
  
  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
"Eject the plug!" Misato ordered hastily.  
  
After pressing the emergency button, Maya Ibuki shook her head.  
  
"No response, the emergency eject is not working."  
  
"Asuka!" shouted Misato to herself, "Get a visual of the plug, now!"  
  
On the screen, It showed the cockpit, and Link Connection Liquid, but no pilot.  
  
"What happened?!?" Misato asked Ritsuko, "Has she been taken into the Eva?!?"  
  
Wishing that was it, Ritsuko answered.  
  
"No, Major. It's something much, much worse." she said grimly, "She has been taken into the Angel."  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
4 hours later  
  
"We have quickly devised a plan to retrieve the pilot of Unit 02." Ritsuko started.  
  
"Asuka..." Shinji said, barely over a whisper, his hair matted to his skin.  
  
Ritsuko continued. "Using Pilot Ikari, we will use his mind to invade mind, and convince her that whatever the Angel is manipulating her with isn't reality, so that we can destroy the Angel without endangering Pilot Soryu."  
  
"Without the permission of the Commander..." Misato mumbled to herself.  
  
"Is that clear?" Ritsuko boldly asked the staff.  
  
"Hai!" they said in unison.  
  
She smirked. "The operation begins in one hour, let's move out!"  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
  
  
1 hour later  
  
Shinji was laying on a flat table, completely naked, with metal objects and wires protruding from his body.  
  
"Okay, Shinji-kun," said Ritsuko, "Now close your eyes, and just relax. We can't put you under with your pulse rate as high as it is now."  
  
"You expect me to RELAX?!?" he shouted back with slight panic and anger. This was not like Shinji's usual timid nature at all.  
  
"You want to save Asuka, don't you?" Misato asked, with a wry grin on her face.  
  
Shinji blushed.  
  
"Thought so." Misato smirked.  
  
"Ok, ok." Shinji sighed, "I'll do it, I'll relax."  
  
With that, Shinji calmly closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
"Wha...?" Shinji inquired, slightly disoriented.  
  
He was in what appeared to be a dark chasm, until his vision focussed and he spotted an unconscious pilot, sitting in the cockpit of the entry plug.  
  
"Asuka? ASUKA!" he shouted.  
  
She started to stir.  
  
"Asuka!!" he started to yell, but to no avail. She didn't hear him.  
  
Then, another voice emerged from the darkness of the darkness of the plug, a feminine voice in fact.  
  
"Asuka, liebling...." the voice cried.  
  
"Was that in German?" Shinji asked no one.  
  
"I must be dreaming..." Asuka whispered, quivering.  
  
"Asuka-chan..." cooed the voice, sounding as if it were getting closer and closer.  
  
'Asuka-chan...' thought Shinji.  
  
"No way," Asuka cried, astonished, "This is just like...that dream!"  
  
Shinji couldn't take it anymore, he screamed at the top of his lungs.  
  
"ASUKA!" his voice shouted, barely audible to Asuka.  
  
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka choked, with confusion in her voice.  
  
"ASUKA, LIEBLING. ICH BIN HIER (ASUKA, DARLING. I AM HERE)!" yelled the other voice, and it formed the shape of a woman, which looked like an older Asuka, with short auburn hair. It was Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. Asuka's mother.  
  
"Mama?" Asuka choked. 'It couldn't be, just couldn't be...'  
  
"Ich bin hier, Asuka liebling. Gekommen zu mir (I am here, Asuka darling. Come to me).  
  
"Ja Mutter (Yes mother)." Asuka whispered, as she slowly floated out of her cockpit seat, towards her so-called mother.  
  
'That can't be Asuka's mother, It can't be!' Shinji thought angrily.  
  
The woman smirked an evil grin as Asuka floated closer and closer towards her, an weary, recognizable chill ran down Shinji's spine.  
  
"IT'S THE ANGEL!" he shouted aloud. "ASUKA, STOP!"  
  
Shinji just couldn't get through to her. He frantically floated over to her, and tried physically to stop her, but to no avail. Asuka reached the outstretched arms of her "mother", and, as tears streamed down her face, the Entry plug of Eva 02 was replaced by the outskirts of Tokyo-3.The sky was a Prussian blue, the sun had set beneath the hills in the distance. Not a cloud floated in the sky as nightfall had fell in the crystalline sky. The sight was breath taking, but that was not why they were there.  
  
"Asuka, mein Liebling. Sterben Sie mit mir? Möchten Sie mit mir, mein Asuka sein? Mööchten Sie mit mir sein für immer (Asuka, my darling. Will you die with me? Do you want to be with me, my Asuka? Do you want to be with me forever)?"  
  
"Ja Mutter. Für immer (Yes mother. Forever)." replied Asuka in an overjoyed, trance-like voice.  
  
Both Asuka and the angel started walking towards the edge of a cliff nearby. Shinji watched, with tears in his eyes. He didn't understand what they had said, but realised what was going to happen as they both neared the cliff. The Angel was going to kill Asuka.  
  
Just as they were nearing the edge, a small, yet emotional voice called out.  
  
"ASUKA, DON'T!!" the familiar voice cried.  
  
"Baka-Shinji?" Asuka said quizzically as she looked back and saw the lean and wiry frame of her roommate, colleague and bitter rival, Shinji Ikari.  
  
"Who are YOU! Why are you interfering?" spat Kyoko angrily. It was the first time she spoke in Japanese.  
  
"I'm not gonna let you take Asuka away, we need her!" Shinji retorted as he neared their position.  
  
"What? You need ME? The one that can't even kill an Angel without your help? HA!!! No one needs me." Asuka huffed.  
  
"......" Shinji paused. 'What now? Do I tell her why I'm really here?'  
  
But, like Shinji, he just looked at the ground and said nothing.  
  
"Thought so, the Invincible Shinji wants to save the day again, too bad it's only me your trying to save."  
  
Shinji clenched his fists in anger.  
  
"That's not fair to say that! You mean more to me than just that!" he started to scream, something that astonished Asuka. "I wouldn't even care if this was an order or not, I'd still come! Why can't you see..." Shinji started to falter, "see...the truth..."  
  
"What the hell does that mean!?!" Asuka screeched, confused.  
  
Shinji lost his spine and clammed up again. He mumbled nonsense under his breath.  
  
"You always were a wussy..." she muttered.  
  
"Now, Asuka, let us meet our destiny..." Kyoko disturbingly smiled.  
  
"Hai..." Asuka began her trance-like state again.  
  
Shinji ran and lunged at the Angel, but was hit with an AT field and rendered unconscious (in his already unconscious state, so would that be a coma?). Asuka, surprisingly this time, noticed that something was wrong. She shook off her trance.  
  
"What? What did you do to Shinji-kun?" Asuka asked angrily.  
  
Kyoko hesitated, "He is just resting, now come..."  
  
"NO!!" Asuka screamed.  
  
Kyoko stopped talking, stunned.  
  
"No one, and I mean NO ONE, can treat Baka-Shinji like that but ME!" Asuka started her onslaught, "My mother was gentle, kind, loving. She wouldn't harm anyone, intentionally. YOU CAN'T BE MY MOTHER!!!"  
  
The screen broke apart, leaving a landscape similar to the last minutes of End of Evangelion (Minus the Rei/Lilith head and Eva series crucified corpses). Asuka ran over to Shinji, and gently picked up his head. She gave a death glare towards the Angel, now in its true, hideous form.  
  
"Not even Shinji deserved that!" Asuka fumed, "You'll pay!"  
  
"MAKE ME!!" taunted the Angel, with it's blood shot eyes gazing into Asuka's with "thanatos" in mind.  
  
The Angel started to laugh hysterically. Asuka lunged for the Angel in the same fashion in which Shinji had previously done. The Angel giggled and easily dodged her advance.  
  
"Why don't you just stay still and DIE!" Asuka cried.  
  
"Enough of this." the Angel chuckled, "This is pathetic. It's time for you to die now."  
  
With that, the Angel disappeared, the illusion faded and a floating, unconscious Shinji and a bewildered Asuka was left in her dormant Entry Plug of Evangelion Unit 02.  
  
Shinji started to stir and groggily opened his eyes.  
  
"Baka-Shinji-kun?" Asuka quietly asked.  
  
"Wha..? What...where am I? What's going on?" he incoherently mumbled back.  
  
Asuka sincerely smiled, before she hid herself with an annoyed smirk.  
  
"About time you woke up!" she said, haughtily.  
  
"Yeah..." Shinji blushed, embarrassed.  
  
"Um, I've been meaning to ask you..." Asuka started, "How ARE you here?"  
  
"I am a projection of my conscious self in your mind, right now my body is 1 km away on a steel table in the geo-front." answered Shinji.  
  
Before Asuka could say anymore, red letters blipped on the screen in front of the cockpit.  
  
"Mein Gott!" Asuka gulped, "Self Destruct sequence is on... but how?"  
  
All went quiet. '2 minutes' flashed on the screen, precious seconds ticked by. Shinji's face turned white.  
  
"Asuka! Try the manual eject sequence!" yelled Shinji.  
  
Asuka frantically searched for the switch, tried it over and over again, but to no avail.  
  
"Verdamnt!" she shrieked, "It's not working!"  
  
20 seconds left.  
  
"Asuka!" Shinji started sobbing, "Don't die, try...something! Please! ASUKA!"  
  
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" she panicked, then stopped all of a sudden. "Why are you crying? What does any of this matter to you? You are safe, why do you..." Asuka's voice lowered, barely over a whisper, "Why do you even bother with me?"  
  
Only 5 seconds left.  
  
Shinji couldn't hold it in anymore, he had to say something. Even if she was going to die, he had to tell her before she did.  
  
"Asuka, It's because I...I..." but the explosion drowned out his last words.  
  
  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Author's Note: Thank God for the Altavista Translator!  



	4. Dreaming of You

Nights into Dreams  
  
Part III: Dreaming Of You  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Cold.  
That is the only word that could describe where a weary Asuka Langley Soryu lay bare and shivering in the endless, dark abyss. This simple word defined all that the surroundings felt, and of the poor child that lay.  
Small, eerie footsteps clanked on the opal floor, nearing the helpless child, a resonant echo with each stride. Out of the shadows, a small, green haired child appeared, with a stone face and piercingly cold gray eyes.  
Asuka's heart sank. Her every fear, anxiety, insecurity, and negative thought filled her every pore in a crushing blow. Daggers of ice stabbed her heart, reaching to her very spirit, destroying her resolve. It felt as though she had lost everything, even her soul. Her life felt as if it had no reason to be. Asuka's body had lost it's will to breath.  
With no resistance at all, Asuka's heart rhythm slowly stopped as her body dryly slumped to the floor.  
The being smirked. "If looks could kill..."  
  
*****************************************************************************  
'Shinji?'  
Misato had called out, leaning over where the wearied boy lay. A short while ago, Ritsuko had said the connection between Shinji and Asuka had been abruptly cut, and Misato had to find out what had happened. She sighed as she rested herself into the nearest chair, taking a sip of her morning coffee.  
"What could have happened..." Misato thought aloud, "Asuka's body is missing, Shinji must have the answer..."  
Sighing once more, Misato pondered deeper into her own troubles. Yet she wouldn't have much time to do so, for Shinji's body began to move. Misato rushed over to the boy as his eyes fluttered open. Once conscious, he sprang up as if he were in a bad dream.  
"A..A-ASUKA!! NO!!" he shrilled in delirium.  
Misato attempted to hold him down. "Shinji, it's ok, your at NERV headquarters now, and..."  
"ASUKA!! GOTTA SAVE ASUKA!!" Shinji interrupted, and shoved the busty Major off his frail body with the force of a freight train. Misato proceeded to tumble off the bed with such a crash that many NERV personnel came in the room to investigate. He pushed his way through the crowd and ran out the door.  
"Security!" Misato screamed, totally flustered.  
In only a hospital robe, Shinji ran frantically down the corridor. A visitor was walking by the deranged boy when he was abruptly grabbed by the collar, Shinji shouting hysterically in his face.  
"ASUKA? Where is she!?! WHERE IS SHE!?!" he cried directly in the man's face.  
"What...who?" the man stuttered, "Who..are you...?"  
Shinji began to foam at the mouth. "ASUKA! WHERE IS ASUKA?!?"  
Shinji, who was at least 5 inches shorter than the man he was holding in his grasp, amazingly picked the man up and shook him violently.  
"TELL ME!! TELL ME PLEASE!!" his hysterical cries finally alerted nearby Security.  
"There he is, get him!"  
NERV Security ran towards Shinji and the man's position. Seeing his impending danger, Shinji dropped the poor visitor and took of in an unyielding sprint that even NERV Security couldn't keep up with.  
He ran outside, looked around and headed for the last co-ordinates Evangelion Unit 02 had been. In the child's mind at the moment, only one thing mattered.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Asuka gasped.  
The sweet taste of oxygen filled her grateful lungs, with her taking in as many gulps as humanly possible.  
"I bet that felt good." the child smirked, " Life does has it's pleasures. Plus with this experience to have not even the air you breathe, gives you a new perspective on life, does it not?   
"cough...cough" Asuka shook in severe agony, and wearily looked up to her tormentor.   
"Why are you doing this to me?"  
"I do what is needed to get a point across."  
Asuka looked at the youngster with a wry, yet painful grin. "Then what is your point?"  
The being growled in Asuka's direction, then turned it's robed back to her and crossed it's minuscule arms.  
"Why are you here?"  
Asuka chuckled dryly. "Heck, if I knew where I was don't you think I would have left? Baka...."  
"Not acceptable."  
It lifted it's index finger slightly, and Asuka's naked body began to rise. When she was about 3 feet off the ground, it sharply pointed it's finger down, causing Asuka's body to brutally hit the floor. The entity smiled as Asuka picked herself painfully off the ground.  
"Upset me again and I guarantee you I can do far worse." It scowled as it crossed it's arms once again.  
Asuka pushed her battered body off the floor, and growled at the creature.   
"Bastar..."  
Before she was able to finish, the child's eyes flared into a violet shade and what felt like 100,000 volts of lightning pulsed through her already battered body.  
Asuka's eyes surged out of their sockets, with hot tears gushing down her bloodied face. Her mouth open to cry but no sound came out. Her feeble body crumpled onto the floor as it began to convulse.  
"I warned you before," the child snarled angrily, "And I won't warn you again."   
Its physical form disappeared so as to let Asuka recover.   
The words of the undistinguishable being echoed throughout the darkness.   
"I won't warn you again..."  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
On the outskirts of Tokyo-3, as morning dew settled on the lush green grass, there lay a boy on a steep cliff side, pondering his sanity, head drooping towards the earth.  
"I...I wish....I could understand....these feelings" he stammered, looking into space.  
"Ayanami... I need your help..." he pleaded to no one, "Help me understand, help me help...help..."  
Tears streamed down his red cheeks, he didn't bother to wipe them.  
"Asuka..." he trailed off, shoving his face violently into his hands. Shinji began tearing at his hair, cutting his face with his nails, violently shaking his weary head.  
"WHY COULDN'T I HELP!?! WHY CAN'T I UNDERSTAND?!?" he shrieked, tears flowing heavier now.  
He began smiling deliriously.   
"I'll join you, Asuka..." Shinji beamed, "So we can be together...forever..."  
Shinji staggered to his feet, and walked drunkenly to the border of the cliff  
" We'll be together in another life, Asuka..." He glowed like a complete lunatic. "For now...Goodbye..."  
He leaped off the edge with drying tears on his face, eyes closed in the deep serenity of 'freedom'. In his mind, he was going home.  
  
*FLASH*  
  
******************************************************************************  
'...Asuka...'  
Violently coughing, Asuka frantically looked around the dark room. She had recognized that voice.  
A familiar voice.  
"Sh...Shinji?"  
'...Goodbye...'   
"SHINJI!?! SHINJI!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?" Asuka bellowed, hoping that her comrade was somewhere, anywhere nearby.  
But there was only silence.  
With salty tears brimming in her azure eyes, Asuka screamed desperately until her voice went hoarse. After many minutes passed, and her feeble cries went silent, a single, wet tear streamed down Asuka's face and fell onto the opal floor.  
That sole, torturous, sinister voice emerged once more.  
"See the damage you've caused? See how your existence alone has caused so much suffering?"  
Images of all the people she knew and have ever known flash through her head, their faces glowing with visible sorrow and utter rage, overloading her cerebral cortex until she lost all touch with reality.  
*FLASH*  
Sitting on a chair, the naked girl sat covering herself, surrounded by a crowd of students of her school, NERV personnel and others.  
"No..." Asuka frailly whimpered as if she were a little puppy.  
Hikari, her best friend, steps out toward her.  
"Asuka," Hikari started, in a stern voice "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?"  
Asuka looked up at Hikari, slightly shocked. "Stop..."  
  
Misato takes her place on the right of Hikari, the crowd seeming to get bigger by each moment.  
"Your life could have been simple, you know." Misato looked deeply into Asuka's eyes with a loathing she had never experienced before. "You had beauty, strength, intelligence and potential, but that wasn't enough for you..."  
"No..." she sobbed.  
Toji stepped to Hikari's left.  
"Scary ass red haired devil..." Toji said, but not in the joking matter she was accustomed to.  
"Stop it..!"  
Kaji, standing next to Misato said nothing, but he quickly drew he into a welcomed kiss, then looked at Asuka as if to mock her.  
Tears were trying to escape her eyes once again.  
'No!! It couldn't be them!' she thought in udder horror.  
Then, the voice she dreaded the more than anyone else's sounded out around her. All the images disappeared as his voice echoed through the darkness.  
"Goodbye...Asuka"  
The world's end.  
"NOOOOO!!!!"  
Prelude to a dream.  
******************************************************************************  
'Hey miss?'  
Asuka lifts her tired head, to discover that she is in a park, apparently in her school clothes, and in front of a shimmering clear lake. She steadily turns her head to find the origin of her disruption, and spots a brown haired, dark blue eyed young boy with a yellow t-shirt and white shorts looking at her quizzically.  
" What do you want, kid?" asked Asuka, with a slightly annoyed tone.  
He pouted, "Watch who you're calling a kid, miss! I'm 5 and ½, y'know..."  
Asuka actually giggled at this.  
"That's nice, young man," she laughed serenely.  
"So..." The boy smiled at Asuka, " What'cha doin' here, miss?"  
Asuka slowly stands up, dusting herself off, and taking a good look around. 'This doesn't look like any place in Tokyo-3...'  
"I...don't know," she replied. " Where is this place?"  
"I dunno, miss..." the boy took a quick glance around. " Whatever you want it to be..."  
Asuka paused,"... what do you mean?" she asked.  
The boy answered simply, "This is your world."  
The landscape instantaneously changed from the lakeside park to a beautiful landscape of what seemed to be and endless bed of flowers. Asuka, wearing a surprised expression, was now wearing a sun dress with a straw hat, sitting on a picnic blanket with a brown haired young man laying on her lap, listening to an SDAT tape.  
"What the...?" Asuka said, with confusion evident in her voice.  
She abruptly looked down and gasped.  
Her face drained of all it's blood.  
"SHINJI?!?!"  
He opened his eyes and looked at her with his navy eyes and a relaxed countenance.  
He sighed lightly.  
"Yes...is there....!!"  
Before he was able to finish, Asuka violently pushed him off her lap, her face now flushed beet red.  
Asuka screamed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!?!"  
He blinked, as if he were confused.  
"Uh...well..." he started, stammering. "you never objected last night when we..."  
She pulled back and smacked the poor boy square in the face.  
"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?!" Asuka screeched, unable to control her raging emotions.  
He gathered himself, gently touching where she had just slapped him. Shinji looked at her quizzically, as if he were a child.  
"Are you feeling alright, miss?" he asked.  
Her eyes widened.  
"You..." she growled. "You're that boy! It was you Shinji, all along, you little rat!"  
Shinji blinked in confusion again.  
"Hey," he began, shrugging his shoulders. " Don't blame me. This is you're world. You couldn't take the truth."  
Shinji fizzles out and creates two forms, himself and the boy.  
Asuka was now genuinely confused.   
"What do you mean?" she inquire, cautiously.  
"Why are you here?" both boys asked in unison  
She hesitated.  
"I don't know..."  
"Why?" they asked again, in the same tone as before.   
"I don't know." she replied once more.  
Yet the Shinji's were not yet satisfied.  
"Why?" they inquired again.  
"I DON'T KNOW!!" Asuka cried as if to emphasize her final and only answer.  
They both turn their backs to her in sync. Both holding a disappointed look on their faces.   
"Then go!"  
*FLASH*  
Emptiness.  
******************************************************************************  
  
Shinji exposed his eyes to the dawning sunlight.  
There he lay, in the right hand of Evangelion Unit 02. He stood upright, recalling how he ended up here in the first place.  
"Asuka, why can't I see you again?" Shinji sobbed silently.  
He looked down at the gigantic hand beneath him. A memory resurfaced. The day he had to pilot Evangelion 01, and how the Eva had protected him, just as this one did.   
With one distinctive feeling.  
Comfort.  
"M...Mother?" Shinji nervously stuttered.  
'No'  
"What was that?"  
The boy weakly looked around for any person that might be in the area for the message to have originated from. None in sight.  
"Who... ah... what are you?" uttered the youth.  
'Come inside'  
At that moment, the latch for the entry plug hissed open, waiting for a pilot. Cautiously, but figuring he had nothing else to loose, Shinji climbed in, the entry plug securing itself behind him.  
Sitting in already used LCL, Shinji sat uncomfortably in Asuka's pilot seat.  
'Somehow I feel like I'm betraying her' thought Shinji.  
'Do you want to save her?'  
"...uh," Shinji muttered, startled. "Of course I do!"  
'Then pilot'  
"...."  
'Now!'  
With that, the red beast came to life, 4:59 minutes left in the reserve batteries.  
"But..." queried Shinji, with uncertainty. " Where do I start?"  
******************************************************************************  
'Looks who's back...'  
Asuka looked around to discover that she was right back where she had started. In the dark room, with the obsidian floor, and the green haired child she had grown to loathe.   
"Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to deserve this." She wept pathetically.   
The child shot her a cold glance.  
"What did he ever do to deserve your constant taunting, your constant abuse?"  
Her heart sank to her bare feet.  
"Who..." her voice quavering, "what are you trying to...?"  
But in her heart, she already knew.  
"All he gave you was kindness and respect, all you gave him was disrespect, hatred and countless hours of emotional torture!  
Asuka: But surely he didn't take it to hear...  
"I saw him," the child interrupted, " I peered into his soul when his physical projection was trying to save you... every curse, every hit, every putdown, every little cold look or even frown were to him like cold daggers in his fragile heart. Yet he hided behind a painted smile as if he were a geisha, listened and put up with you just for the rare moments of kindness that you shared together." It's voice began to soften, "In his mind's eye, he would have taken the stars right out of the sky just to see you smile, even if it was an evil one."  
Shaken, Asuka looked into the child's pale gray eyes. A sadness came over her, and her salty tears once again rolled down her cheeks like beads and fell to the floor.   
"This cannot be..." Asuka cried frantically, "you have to be lying...I know the idiot doesn't..."  
"You ignorant fool!" the child roared, It's empathy now exhausted. "The poor boy treats you like a queen and you treat him like a dime and put him back on the shelf. The only thing you care about is you, not even! How could you even possibly love someone else?!"  
Asuka wore a pained face, and quietly whispered. "I...love Kaji..."  
The juvenile's eyes flared with livid rage.  
"BULLSHIT!!" it hollered. "That pitiful, childish infatuation? You are incapable of love, pathetic excuse for a human being."  
As her tears still flowed, Asuka stood up and picked up the small child by the collar of it's sweatshirt.  
"WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THESE AWFUL LIES!?!" she wailed, shaking the child violently. " WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!"  
It smiled.  
"TELL ME!!" she yelled.  
"Poor Lilim..." the child sighed. "You can be fun for awhile, but now you've ruined the game, oh well, guess I'll show my true form."  
The child dissolved in Asuka's hands, and then appeared several feet infront of the perplexed girl. The body of the child grow into an about 16 year old looking body. His hair grew till it was halfway down his back, and black angel wings sprouted from his back. If Asuka wasn't completely terrified, and had this been a normal situation, she would have thought this boy to be extremely handsome. This black winged Angel was different from any other ever encountered, like something out of a fairy tale.  
"You..You're an Angel!" Asuka was astonished.  
"No, I'm Emmanuel." the handsome man answered.  
"Ah..." she faltered, "...As in...?"  
"As in a name." he smiled, flashing perfect white teeth. " No, I'm not Jesus. Man, am I far from it."  
He folded his dark wings and walked towards the perplexed and still unclothed Asuka.  
"Then...what are you?" questioned the puzzled girl.  
"An outcast, enough said." he replied stiffly.  
"Ok...." said the girl, blushing profusely. "but, um, would it be hard for me to have some clothing?"  
"Ok," Emmanuel pouted jokingly, " If you insist..."  
He snapped his finger and Asuka was instantly clothed in her plugsuit.  
"Where are we?" she asked, now comfortable.  
"My sanctuary," he tried to elaborate. " Inside the mind."   
"....ok...then" Asuka said in a perplexed voice.  
"Why?" he queried out of the blue.  
"Why what?" Asuka asked.  
"Why do you torture him so?" he inquired nonchalantly.  
She looked at Emmanuel's pained face.  
"I...don't know."  
"In a way," he began. " I feel that I am in debt to this boy, but for a reason I do not know."  
Asuka smirked.  
"Yeah," she conferred. " Shinji can do that to you sometimes."  
He sits on the floor, Asuka carefully follows his actions.  
"He... cares so much." he empathized. "More than any other human I've seen. The poor boy just doesn't know how to love, since he doesn't love himself. He doesn't take care of himself."  
"He is a class act, huh?" she grinned further.  
"How can you say that when you are just the same as him?" he stated.  
Asuka sharply slapped Emmanuel.  
"How can you say that?!?" Asuka howled in an enraged tone. "Me like that pathetic excuse for a male? That wimp, that..."  
"He is braver than you'll ever be," interrupted Emmanuel. "Miss Asuka Langley Soryu."  
"How dare you..." scowled the girl.  
"He jumped into a volcano to save you..." he started.  
"But..."  
" Looked out for you..."  
" Stop..."  
" He even kissed you..."  
Asuka had had it. "STOP IT!! ENOUGH!!"  
Emmanuel sat silently and unmoved as Asuka screamed violently at him for almost an hour, until she tired and fell promptly to deep slumber on the opal surface.  
Emmanuel: My poor boy, how could you stand this wild tigress.  
He smiled peacefully.  
"It must be hard to really love someone for the first time."  
******************************************************************************  
To be continued...   
AND very soon, I promise ;-) 


	5. Author's Announcement

It has been years, and I finally have found some time to do the next 3 or 4 chapters of Nights into Dreams. Due to many personal issues I've neglected this fanfic, but now my life is back on track you can look forward to the fourth installment by December. I will finish what I've started, do not worry. 


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